CARDIOLOGIST USES DEVICE TO AID WOMAN ON FLIGHT

San Diego 
Prominent San Diego cardiologist Eric Topol gave a major address in New Orleans on Tuesday extolling the use of a small, portable device for examining people suffering heart distress. Three hours later, he used the device to determine that a woman on a commercial airline flight was experiencing an abnormal heart rhythm.

It was the second time in two years that Topol, chief academic officer at Scripps Health, had used such a device to diagnose a patient on a commercial aircraft.

The latest incident occurred shortly after noon on Tuesday, while Topol was flying from New Orleans to Houston to grab a connecting flight to San Diego. About 15 minutes into the flight, two attendants moved through the cabin, asking whether there was a doctor on board who could assist a passenger who was nauseated and seemed to be experiencing an irregular heart rate. Topol was sitting a few rows ahead of the woman and took an AliveCor heart monitor out of his bag and used it to diagnose her condition. The wireless device attaches to an iPhone and enables the user to call up data.

“It was unequivocal that she had atrial fibrillation,” Topol told U-T San Diego.

Topol stabilized the patient and the plane was able to land without further incident about 90 minutes later.

Topol used a device 17 months ago on a flight to determine whether a man was having a heart attack. The pilot made an emergency landing so the man could receive treatment.